**Chase’s POV**
The pond behind the estate froze solid every winter, thick enough to drive a truck across if anyone was stupid enough to try. We never did. Instead we cleared a perfect oval in the middle, shoveled snow to the sides, and marked goals with old hockey nets I’d dragged out of storage. The triplets had been begging for “real ice time” since the first snowfall, and today the sun was out—bright, cold, the kind of day that made everything sparkle.
I laced their skates on the bank while Amelia bundled them in extra layers. Jaden fidgeted the whole time, impatient. Jasmine kept asking if the ice would c***k. Jamin just watched me, quiet, copying every knot I tied.
“Ready?” I asked, standing up.
Three heads nodded fast.
I stepped onto the ice first—testing, always testing—then h
